It seems like there is a very open war going on between two factions in the world, and they are both after your food.
First we have the organic only group who search out all food products which are as Mother Nature intended; in all their mud encrusted, oddly shaped or grass fed glory. With the battle cry that organic is inherently better and much more nutritious than the (
allegedly) cancer inducing chemical soaked alternatives on your supermarket shelves, as they trawl through farmers markets with an air of foodie superiority. These people are fervently opposed to any tampering of nature by mankind and are willing to pay for the privilege too, you will never see a cheap frozen processed TV dinner in their shopping basket. But is this a lifestyle choice for middle class hipsters rather than a decision based on logic and fact that will work long-term?
Meanwhile science is creating pest and disease resistant GM ‘super-crops’ and growing ‘meat’ in laboratories to counter the ever looming global food crisis. They can appear sympathetic to the organic chasers, as plants modified to be disease free promise to grow like weeds in poor soil and provide nutritious food which would not need the pesticides or chemical fertilisers so hated by them. This logic also applies to meat production. Flesh grown in lab conditions would not need antibiotics, medicines or even traditional feed…also you can keep all your rainforests as it would negate the need for huge areas of grazing land. But does this utopian win:win sound a little too good to be true as it is, after all, being delivered by big business with their sights aimed firmly on your plate.
The funny thing is that both have environmental silver bullets. They both have health and nutrition cards to play. It’s like a cross between a Mexican stand off and Texas hold all. Both sides have counter arguments which seem to make absolute sense and neither are able or willing to call each other’s bluff. So where does the truth lie? Or does it even exist?
As time slips away the pressure on food producers (traditional or otherwise) grows ever heavier.
Time is THE factor. As the global population soars the clock ticks ever faster on our need to solve the food crisis. Humans have cross bred and overcome diseases in fruit and vegetables for hundreds or years, but this process takes a lot of time, time which we can no longer afford. As we pack in ever more produce into smaller areas, our cruel mistress Mother Nature takes the opportunity to hit back. Just look at the plight of the
Cavendish banana.
Will a field of super-strain crops take over and eradicate every other plant species for a 1000 miles around it?
Could the demand for organic food cause more naturally occurring diseases, pests and fungi to mutate and take hold?
With nature facing huge challenges from man from evermore polluted oceans to global warming is there space for us to be picky about where or how our food is produced?
Perhaps if we turn our back on GM we will be condemning millions of people to starvation and malnutrition?
Or have we simply run out of time already? Will the global population eventually (
or inevitably) out strip all possible methods of food production, after all we have finite space on this planet…
What do you think? Which side of the fence do you sit on…or are you firmly on it?
Michael Robinson
